Monday 27 July 2009

Yasmin Ahmad - Malaysian Born Talent Extraordinaire

Every festive season I wait in anticipation for the Petronas advertisement on television. I like those advertisements because they tug at the heartstrings.

Some tickle the funny bone like the Deepavali advertisement which told of the feud between the owners of Raju restaurant and Paandi restaurant. Hilarious!

I wondered who was the talented person who conceptualised brilliant ideas for those advertisements without fail each year.

Soon I learnt that those advertisements were the brainchild of a talented lady by the name of Yasmin Ahmad.

Then I watched Sepet, Yasmin's award winning movie of a forbidden love between a Malay girl and a Chinese boy.

I remember the part in the movie where Sepet's friend told him that if he converted to Islam he won't be able to eat pork anymore. I salute Yasmin for adding that into the script because these are things we don't talk about openly because it might offend certain groups of people.

Last Friday I read in the papers that Yasmin suffered a stroke and was rushed to the hospital for an emergency operation. I prayed that she would have a speedy recovery.

On Saturday night when I reached home in time to catch the final minutes of the 12.00 midnight TV3 news, I heard the newscaster concluding the news by wishing condolences to the family of Yasmin. My heart sank.

Last month Michael Jackson passed away. This time a brilliant Malaysian talent is gone forever. It is not everyday that a Malaysian born talent of such calibre comes into our midst.

Yasmin deserves to sit in the same prestigious entertainment league of Malaysians who have enriched our lives and the local entertainment scene with their tremendous talent.

I think each festive season would not be the same again without Yasmin's brilliant advertisements that makes us look at ourselves and the values that we take for granted.

Rest in peace, Yasmin.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know her work too. She had made some rather pro-family and heartwarming commercials here, which often bring a tear to my eye when the commercial came on. Yes, RIP indeed.

SGRMSE. said...

Beautiful tribute.

Yasmin is missed and loved by all :c

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